Firearms Friday: Saturday Night Specials

One of the questions I often ask myself (other ‘can I afford a new gun?’ and ‘Is she over 18?’) is: Why do statists hate poor people? Time and again we see how their policies disproportionately affect poor people in increasingly negative ways. Case in point: I have an internet buddy from Australia. Being Australian, he is predictably progressive, but he is the rare breed of progressive that agrees to disagree on certain political issues, so even though he hates guns and knows that I love them, we can still get along without him calling me a baby killer. I was talking to him once about various aspects of shooting, and I mentioned offhand how expensive guns and ammo have become. He responded that he would hope that guns and ammo are expensive. I asked him point blank: Should poor people not be allowed have guns? His response was a rather terse and unapologetic ‘no they should not’. And just like that, we get to one of the hidden pillars of gun control: Elitism.

While the racist roots of modern gun control stemming from post reconstruction Jim Crow laws are fairly well documented, the class warfare elements are usually glossed over or hand waved away. This is true for the ‘may issue’ concealed carry permits in places like New York and Maryland which are only accessible to the rich and powerful, but it is even more stark when you look at the case of ‘Saturday night special’ laws. For those unaware, ‘Saturday night special’ is a slang term for inexpensive mass produced and usually low caliber handguns. Such guns were very popular among the poor, especially among working class black families in high crime neighborhoods. Obviously, we can’t have affordable firearms for black poor people, lest they wander off the plantation and find a sense of agency along the way. Thus, the anti-gun politicians went after these guns under the dubious claim that criminals were using them as burner guns at a disproportionately high rate. In point of fact there is no actual basis to this claim, but why let facts stand in the way of good old fashioned civil rights infringement. The gun control act of 1968 (back when people named their bills honestly) specifically banned these cheap imports by implementing a points system requirement for imported handguns based on size, caliber, and a host of other useless and outdated features. Fun fact: imported Glocks cannot pass the import system in their factory configuration. The ones built in Austria for import to the US (which I assume is all of them) are equipped from the factory with expensive target sights, which are removed and replaced with the standard combat sights after they make it stateside. This is also why many smaller imported pistols have ridges on their triggers. Apparently the ridges make them ‘target triggers’ which give them enough points to pass importation. Same goes for those beloved finger grooves on the smaller Glocks. They are ‘target grips’ required for importation. No, I am not making a word of this up, in case you somehow think that gun control laws could not actually be this arbitrary. Oh, and government agencies are exempt from these restrictions, of course, because no real gun control law is complete without a hefty side order of cop carve outs.

What? Criminals don’t obey the law? Not even gun control laws?

The effects of these laws on the underprivileged cannot be understated. A criminal does not care about the price of a gun. He can barter for one using drugs or other contraband. He can obtain them from criminal associates. He can simply steal one from an empty house or unattended vehicle. A poor law abiding person cannot, or more precisely will not, engage in these sorts of activities, and therefore is simply artificially priced out of the market. There was even a study done that shows that mid and high priced guns are more common as crime guns than cheap burners. Apparently criminals shop for quality and caliber over price. The purpose of these laws are simple: keep the proles disarmed and unable to fight back against their betters. The ruling class would rather have the poor defenseless in the street against criminals and their own corrupt police than allow them to defend themselves and risk a riot or power struggle.

Good thing such a blatant and obvious infringement would surely attract the attention of the various professional victims minority empowerment organizations who would immediately oppose and dismantle such a racist, elitist law, wouldn’t it? You bet it would! In 2003, the NAACP filed a federal lawsuit over the availability of handguns to minority communities. Oh wait, silly me! They filed suit against a number of firearms manufacturers for making and selling so called ‘Saturday night specials’ to minority communities. Huh… kinda went the other way with that one. Surely the NAACP values the self defense rights of minorities over oppressive disarmament schemes? I mean, it’s not like the NAACP is completelymorallybankrupt or anything, right?

Explain to me why I shouldn’t go unwisely blow some cash on some kind of 6.5 Creedmor rifle. I don’t have a place to shoot at long ranges, I have plenty of fine deer killing machines, and I have no need whatsoever for it. So I clearly need one, right?

Well, my interest in it comes from contemplating how cool it would be to have a Garand in its original .276 Pedersen, so I’m thinking an AR. But now it’s also kind of merged with my vague desire to get one of those fun-looking Ruger Scout rifles, and it turns out that Ruger is now offering them in 6.5.

I’ve also found myself lamenting not getting a 1917 Enfield when I blew $2000 on Garands and 1903s and ammo at the CMP store years ago. So I need to save up to fix that error as well.

Next two gun purchases: 1) home defense pistol that my horribly terrified of guns fiancee can learn to shoot 2) cheap ass AR that I can beat around on

Any recommendations for either or both of those categories? I was thinking Walther PPQ or CZ 75. I really like the CZ because all the weight should absorb some of the recoil. The only problem is she has trouble racking the slide on any of the pistols we tried at the gun shop :/. She’s not even that weak, she just couldn’t do it. I really don’t know if there’s a revolved that could work for her either, though. Maybe a giant .357 mag that I load up with .38 specials?

As for the AR, any terrible negative thoughts on Palmetto State Armory? That’s where I’m leaning

Thanks. Almost bought my 300 stuff from them, but chickened out due to a few negative reviews. But in hindsight I feel like that was a bad move. Could have saved about $100. Will probably go with on my next build

If the chiappa rhino would come down about $200 I would probably get the 4″ version and load it with some .38s for her. The straight back recoil impulse should help her be less terrified of it flipping out of her hands

Mrs. Animal is pretty tiny and handles her Ruger Security-Six easily, even with .357 loads. If your fiancee has tiny hands like Mrs. Animal does, you could do worse than to watch Gunbroker for a good old Security-Six. They have the smallest grip frames of any .357 I’m aware of.

I think many pistols are over-complicated even for experienced shooters. So you want to get her a big double-action revolver. Size isn’t an issue for home defense. Weight reduces recoil. Internal ballistics are, because flash and report could impair her shooting indoors without hearing protection. That generally means long barrels and short cartridges. So nothing that was lengthened for safety (eg. 357, 44 magnum, 22 WMR). Then the question becomes one of terminal ballistics. And what fits her hand. So a .38 loaded with .38 sounds good. Maybe set up a Model 29 with .44 light special like Dirty Harry. Or a Redhawk or whatever. You basically want the biggest, simplest thing she can shoot comfortably.

Agreed, but the 29 may be a bit large for women. A S&W 10 or 19 is ideal. Use light 38’s on the range but when it is on the nightstand keep some +P 158gr. flat nose bullets in it. Forget hollow points, always go with the largest front surface area you can, preferably hard cast lead bullets. If you reload you can jack up some wadcutters to around 1000 fps. Getting hit with one of those would be like being struck by lightening. *shudders*

*advice to all: Never buy special bullets for self defense. Go with the cheapest, most run of the mill stuff you can get. If you ever do have to shoot someone in self defense the prosecution will claim your magic kewpie doll bullets are evidence that you really just wanted to shoot someone. I have seen this done before.

Jefe, take her to a range (preferably one with a one price lets you shoot multiple pistols) and let her pick it out. My GF has a weaker grip too. Things that have worked for her: Glock 19 and 17, Walther CCP (she did like the PPQ, but the spring force is MUCH lower on the CCP. The slide’s the same unimax pot metal shit as their .22, so there you go.) , H&K P30. Then she went with a Kahr. Go figure. CZ 75 et al is going to have a pretty low profile slide, which was difficult for her to get a good grip on. Which bollixed my plan to have her get a Witness (what ever the one they market to women is called, I forget) The spring weight was OK, the grip was great, she just couldn’t get enough of a hold on the slide.

If you can find a: H&K P7, Boberg, Steyr GB. All of those have very low slide spring forces, due to esoteric engineering. The first two ain’t cheap. The third one is really hard to find.

As for HD: all handguns suck. Get her one she’s willing to shoot. Ammo? Use what the cops use. I like HST; Gold Dots and Ranger-T are tits too.

I have an PSA 18″ AR in .223 wylde. It’s actually their full rifle parts kit on a Spike’s lower. The kit came with their EPT (enhanced polished trigger) and the pull is pretty nice.
I really, really like it and I definitely recommend.

Did she try the berreta 92 or the PX4? They have rather large slides that are easy for her to get her claws around. And the 92 has a decent recoil spring pressure (I can’t remember on the px4). That and the px4 can be had for pretty cheap.

I emailed Vhyrus and asked him to do an article about reloading equipment because I assumed if he likes shooting he’s probably also a cheapskate. It turns out he’s nearly as rich as he is handsome, and he tells me he knows way more about my mom than reloading. But I figure at least one of you glibs is a cheapskate, reloading, uggo with no time to get to know my mom. If so, please consider writing us an article about what kind of reloading gear is right for the future when Lord H rules the wasteland.

I have a CZ 75 and love it. The only negative I would say about it is that it doesn’t much like UMC ammo. I have shot even cheaper stuff and it was fine, but for some reason that is the only stuff I’ve had a problem with.

Hey Mad. I have been reloading for 40 years. I cast my own bullets, the whole thing. I have reloaded at least a million rounds in every caliber you can imagine.
If you want advice feel free to email me ccbphot1@gmail.com.

If so, please consider writing us an article about what kind of reloading gear is right for the future when Lord H rules the wasteland.

What do you want to reload? Handgun, a few rifle cartridges, shotgun? I’d recommend something like a Lee starter kit. Simple, one stage press with good mechanical advantage. Get a resizing die and a seating die. I liked RCBS in the past, there are others. Digital scale to the 0.1 grain. Powder thrower is nice. Simple case trimmer with deburring attachment makes life easier. Simple dial calipers and I like a separate primer seater.

You will pull your hair out with this set up trying to load a few hundred of anything, but it suffices for 50-75 cartridges for a light trip to the range. It’s also a lot harder to fuck this up (and your gun and face!) than it will if you have an automatic progressive press setup.

For shotguns, I used a (IIRC, Lee too) multiple station, but non-progressive press. None of this should be all that expensive.

Be careful, and write everything down. Doublecheck everything. Reloading cartridges is a hobby where you want to encourage your OCD tendencies.

To the best of my recollection, the original argument against Saturday Night Specials was that they were so cheap everyone could get one. Assuming alcohol plus testosterone equals Saturday night fist fights. Then alcohol plus testosterone plus cheap, easy-to-conceal handguns equals Saturday night murders.

Racism was definitely a big part of the initial push against cheap handguns. So the real threat was black people with access to cheap, easy-to-conceal handguns means that muggings turn into murders.

They just looked at the statistics, and in their silly way thought, “Get rid of the guns that those people are killing each other with”.. and there will be no more killing… So instead of cheap firearms, they all upgraded to Glock 9’s etc.. The problem wasn’t the type of firearms, but the people. They will always be violent.

It has always been “ban what they seem to be using today”. Saturday night specials, Tec 9’s? Junk Guns? Assault weapons?..

And that was a cultural shift. Back in the old days, only scallawags and ne’er do wells would hide their firearms.. so we ban that. The few types of long guns that were miss-used were modified to be concealed.. so in goes the NFA and 16″ barrels, and all of that crap. Again, ban things that criminals are doing… and they shift to other things, or ignore the law.

The recurring theme of these laws wasn’t to ban the item for everyone, upstanding citizens could get the permit, pay the tax etc.. They were all so that the police could hassle criminals/lower class/minorites. With prohibition, and the emphasis on vice you might not be able to catch them in a criminal act, but you knew that they couldn’t get a permit for their gun “not a good citizen” So you could arrest them for gun crimes.

Over time the floor of who was a good citizen kept being raised until in cities only the top elite have that ability, there eventually came a tipping point in urban areas where it was assumed that guns weren’t available to the average person. Perhaps the gentrification of minorities caused this.. you had to raise the requirement to keep them out.

They don’t care, remember it isn’t racist when they do it. Minimum wage, voter ID, zoning, etc. Their ideals are pure, that the world doesn’t seem to work out just says they need to prog harder.

Their visions are all about utopias. In a utopia there is no want, no violence, no need for guns. So they have the causation arrow messed up. A utopia would have no need of guns, so getting rid of guns is one thing on the list.

The top men will give you choice and freedom to do the things they approve of. You are free to do what we like, and not free to do things we don’t like. Isn’t that reasonable?

Look at what the pink pistol’s have gotten, if you are not lock-step prog, you are a pariah, one of the un-good.
Blacks in the NRA are uncle tom’s. We know they don’t like Jewish people with guns (((Zionists)))

Maybe we need to collectively do a betterjob calling them racistswhen they start spouting gun laws. I hate identity politics but i think i could get on board in this area. The worst thing in the world for a prog is to be labelled a racist. Maybe we should oblige them

What idiots. If someone smokes that guy they are going to get a pass. He has already established for the record that he is dangerous and willing to use deadly force offensively.
The left never changes. Their sales pitch is shit so they always revert to violence. I think the tide may be turning harder against these morons. They aren’t going to get their glorious revolution. Even if they did they would lose, lose , lose.

California’s restrictions on carrying firearms stems from the aftermath of the watts riots when the Black Panthers started open carrying. Gov Regan signed into law the permit restrictions, where only people of good reputation would enjoy that privilege.

The NY Sullivan acts were anti immigrant, specifically anti Italian and anti fascist/Anarchist, that they also blocked other minorities was just a bonus.

Operationally the left likes them because it keeps their violent operatives alive. The mob can’t terrorize armed defenders. Their tactics have been divide and conquer. the GCA’68 was an attempt to make “sporting purposes” the only legitimate connection to firearms ownership. Once this was in place, banning all firearms is reasonable if they are only acceptable for “sport”. Luckily with Heller we have understood that the fight must center around self defense.. and yes over time remove the restrictions as blocking firearms that are specifically good for self defense.

Lefties in shooting is left eye dominant, which is different from writing and other tasks.. Left hand dominant.

If the person is a causal shooter I would just cover the left eye in their shooting glasses. Some would get left handed equipment, others learned to manipulate the bolt over the top, or switch hands to cycle.

Back in the 70’s when Carter and the Dims were frothing at the mouth over saturday night specials my father decided to buy a bunch of smith and wesson J-frame revolvers in 38 spl. He was afraid they would become unavailable so he bought 20 of them in various configurations thinking that they would be grandfathered in and worth a ton of money. Turns out you can buy them today for about the same cost.

I’ve never regretted a gun purchase. They aren’t like electronics – outdated a worthless in under a decade. I bought my first gun (HK91A2 from the last batch imported from West Germany) in 1990 and it’s worth more now than I paid, not that it really matters, my son will inherit it.

When I got back to Drum from Iraq in 2006, one of the NCOs in my unit said he had a crate of M1s he was waiting to bring (into NY) from out of state – a bunch of us were supposed to be able to get a good deal on one – but he wasn’t able to swing the NY rules before I left for Korea.

Yeah Vhyrus. You hit the nail on the head. The Ellie think they or their bodyguards should have guns. Gun control is all about them trying to protect themselves from the “wrong kind” of people. Fuck them. Guns for everybody!

Agreed with Mr. Riven. But I have heard that a .22 lr bullet bounces around in the skull with great effect. It is cooler in person, I’ve never had a quality gun this small before. Closest I ever got to this small was a jennings .25 jam-o-matic.

They don’t…but there is a thriving custom edc(everyday carry) community on facebook and instagram to fix that. My current fave fixed blade knife has custom copper scales from Copper shed knife works. Look them up. Matter of fact if you are on instagram my handle is moogly74 if you are into knives and puppies.

I don’t have an instagram. I have considered it, but, like you said, it would just be puppies and other sundry random crap. Heh.

I’ll have to look you up, though, anyway; been thinking about carrying a fixed blade because it would be easier to conceal than a pocket gun. It would be nice to do both, though…

bacon-magic
on August 25, 2017 at 4:20 pm

Good facebook groups:
EDCKT
EDC addicts
the other ones I’m in are mostly high end knife “waffle” (raffle) groups.
This is the only reason I still have facebook.

bacon-magic
on August 25, 2017 at 4:22 pm

On fixed blades is you want decent price quality blades look up ESEE or morakniv(these look cheap but really good imo). High end fixed blades (hard to get but wait til you see pictures) look up Lucky13, Driver Defense, Nomad customs, & a slew of others.

Since I love bacon so much I will repeat: The size of that gun forces you to hold it in your fingers rather than your palm. You will naturally use your thumb to grip it on the left side. If you hold the gun like that notice that the exposed rear of the cylinder is right in front of the tip of your thumb. When you shoot it the sharp edge of the cylinder jumps back substantially and will split your thumbnail about 1/4 inch in. One shot like that aaaaaaaaand all the fun at the range comes to a bloody end.

Make certain that you peel the tip of your thumb out just enough so that the cylinder goes past it instead of into it.

The special court announced the guilty verdict on Friday after hearing closing arguments in the 15-year-old case against the guru, who calls himself Saint Dr. Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insaan.

The guru, who had denied the charges of raping the two women at his ashram in 2002, was flown by helicopter to a jail in the nearby town of Rohtak because district officials feared they would be overrun by his supporters. His sentencing is to be held Aug. 28, prosecutor H.P.S. Verma said

HAHAHAHA. The East Indians that have infested Canada brought with them their tribalism, arrogance and bad food. It’s not enough to under-cut every contracting job whether it be trucking, construction, silviculture, janitorial services, cab drivers or entry-level positions that any typical 15 year-old would be hired for. Nope. They crashed the market and now bitch about the low pay and want the Government to bail them out. I worked for a company for ten years that was low-balled by Sikh entrepeneurs and folded. The Sikhs never did get their contracts completed and were brought up on charges for using Somalians as basically slave labor. The issuer of the contracts wanted us back but by then we had moved on to different forms of indentured servitude.

The general plan is my wife and I will both get concealed carry permits in Iowa the next couple of months. Then we’ll purchase a couple of high-quality, concealable pistols when the company pays out annual bonuses late this fall.

Excellent choice Almighty. I have one. I love love love it. It operates just like a 1911 so it is natural to me. Plus it has the punch of the 9. You can shoot it very accurately with some practice. I have a paddle holster that clips to my pants inside my shirt. It is light and comfortable and sometimes I forget I even have it on. Very well finished high quality gun.

Tundra, do yourself a favor and DO NOT pay good money for Watermelon Dorado. Plain Dorado? Absolutely. The watermelon kind tastes like carbonated Jolly Rancher syrup. It’s disgusting. Really disgusting. If someone offers you one for free, try a few sips and then pour the rest into a nearby shrub. The shrub will hate you for it, but what’s it gonna do about it? Playa only drinks the stuff ironically.